December Redux

So, it's that time of year again. Finishing up fall classes, dodging students' requests that we sing Christmas songs for hundreds of them at class parties, and trying not to miss home too much. I read US news articles about violence breaking out at Black Friday sales, about the tough economy making it hard for working families to buy gifts, about the never ending ridiculousness of American politics, and about snow and below freezing temperatures back home... and I still can't help but wish I was there! It's not quite in the way that I missed home last year, when the wound was still fresh and I would find myself fending off panic attacks and crying jags. This year, it's more of a dull ache, which usually produces a long sigh, typically followed by a cough, that reminds me not to breathe the air too deeply. Pacific Northwesterners: appreciate that lovely invisible air that surrounds you every moment of the day and fills your lungs with oxygen rich loveliness!

One upside to the dull ache however, is how easily it can be relieved with simple pleasures. Yesterday several of us visited the campus of one of our fellow volunteers, Judy, an older volunteer who has been a teacher of both French and German in the US and is always full of interesting anecdotes and surprising quirks. She lived in Germany for a time on a Fulbright Scholarship, so she still has friends and connections there. We started our visit with a lunch with the Chinese English teachers at her school, followed by sessions with eager English students during which we answered questions and discussed topics for conversation practice. The students were very sweet and excited to meet us, and our conversations were followed by lines of students asking the ubiquitous, "Can we take our picture with you?" to which we obliged several minutes of photo-taking. Afterward, Judy invited us back to her apartment in the campus hotel where she served us some amazing traditional German holiday treats including dark-chocolate coated marzipan, stollen (a spicy cookie-like treat with ground hazelnuts), lebukuchen (bread with dried fruits), and German tea. It was like Christmas in my mouth. Just sitting on a cozy couch and sipping some lovely licorice tea with our fellow volunteers gave me that warm fuzzy holiday feeling. Judy was also sweet enough to send us each off with a beautiful little handmade straw Christmas ornament from Germany and some Santa-shaped German chocolates. A big thanks to Judy and her generous friends in Germany for such holiday loveliness!

After a charming walk through the quaint communist-era factory village near her house (now partly deserted but still cozy in its dilapidation) we reached the more modern area where we needed to catch a bus back into the city. Being a Friday evening, many locals had the same idea, and so the three of us headed into the city smashed ourselves into the already packed bus, pinning ourselves between Chinese peasants and college students. So much for holiday loveliness, and back to daily life in China. We were in a hurry because we were scheduled to meet our waiban for a ride to a free evening Sichuan Opera performance provided by the Chongqing Foreign Experts Bureau (that's us, "Foreign Experts"- experts on our own foreignness). Of course the Friday traffic was unforgiving, we missed our ride but were able to make it to the theater before the performance began thanks to the miracles of Chongqing's newly expanded subway and monorail system. The performance was intended to be a holiday treat for all the foreign teachers in the city and while it was quite interesting to finally see a real Sichuan opera performance after more than a year and half here, it was a little less awe-inspiring than I had anticipated. The costumes were amazing, the tricks (mask changing, disappearing beards and fire breathing) were impressive, and the actors in the lead roles were definitely skilled, but it was a little cringe-inducing to see some of the near misses of the obviously amateur acrobats (one almost landed on the head of another during a tumbling routine, knocking his hat off), and less than stellar stage setup, which included flower arrangements that blocked views of the performances and props that looked shoddy especially compared to the elaborate costumes. But who am I to criticize a free performance (a rude and direct American who values honesty over politeness perhaps)?

Keeping ourselves busy is key to making sure our time here is productive and painless, so after the performance we enjoyed some shao kao (Chinese street bbq) with the new Mexican foreign teachers at our school, followed by a beer pong party at their house. The cups and table were smaller than the standard American version, but team USA (Richy and Jason) dominated the game against Mexican, Filipino, Chinese and British challengers alike. One of the great things about being an expat is being able have fun and make friends with people from all over the world. Today, we recover from our busy Friday night shenanigans as I scour the internet for acceptable Christmas cookie recipes that can be made without butter. We're looking forward to our last week of classes (best China Christmas present ever), and next weekend filled with more foreigner-fueled holiday excitement. Afterward, we begin our long winter break with a New Year's weekend trip to Harbin (brrr!) and our Indonesia adventure in mid-January. Then I get to see my Kimmie as a Chinese New Year present!

Happy Holidays!

~Katie